If you are a recent college grad -- a member of the coveted "Millennial" Generation -- where are the best places to get ahead?

Forbes Magazine predictably urges ambitious career launchers to head to the coasts or suburbs of bustling places like Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. As usual, Michigan didn't rate a mention in this latest lovefest from the nation's business media.

Not so fast. Check out The Center for Michigan's new back-of-the-napkin analysis showing just how expensive it can be to move off to some of those cool cities. Knowledge workers who leave can sacrifice thousands of dollars in lost disposable income. This chart is based on a 10-region survey of expected pay for lower-level software programmers/analysts using data from Salary.com. We illustrate the results through the hypothetical case of "Mikey the Millennial." Bottom line: Metro Detroit offers better pay and cheaper cost of living.

As Free Press columnist Ron Dzwonkowski noted this week, there are jobs to be had here:

Young people are leaving based on a perception that Michigan is an “old economy,” a dying state. I know of some who are going to places such as Chicago or Dallas and taking jobs below the level of their state-subsidized college education, thinking that if something is going to happen for me, it’s more likely to happen there than in Michigan. Yet we have employers here clamoring for engineering, financial and IT talent. Importing it, even. These are not traditional big-company Michigan employers with "golden handcuffs" but smaller startups, a few hundred employees.

Don't believe it? Go to the Great Lakes IT Report or Metromode.com and check out the steady stream of "knowledge economy" businesses in Michigan that are growing and hiring. Just this week, for example, Metromode told the tale of Pillar Technology, a Michigan software and consulting firm that recently added 70 jobs and seeks to add more.

There are lucrative opportunities in this state for millennials willing to think beyond the conventional wisdom about our troubled economy. If you want to get ahead, consider staying right here at home.